In a bitter twist in the ongoing political war between Capt Amarinder Singh and the Congress party, the leaders have now found a Pakistan link to hit back at each other. Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa yesterday reportedly said that the state police will investigate the allegation of a link between former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Pakistani journalist friend Aroosa Alam and her ISI links. This comes after Capt Singh’s continuous allegation against Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and his Pakistani connection.

After Randhawa ordered the probe, a bitter slugfest ensued on Twitter between the two veteran leaders. Late last evening, media adviser to Amarinder Singh, Raveen Thukral shared a picture of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Aroosa Alam shaking hands with the caption – ‘Just by the way’ and tagged Randhawa, Punjab Congress and CM Charanjit Singh Channi.

On Thursday, Randhawa had said that the Punjab police will probe Aroosa’s relations with the Pakistani spy agency ISI and into the incidents of a drone coming from across the border to Punjab during Singh’s tenure.

Hitting back at Randhawa, Amarinder Singh yesterday asked, “You were a minister in my cabinet, Sukhjinder Randhawa. Never heard you complain about Aroosa Alam. And she’d been coming for 16 years with due GoI clearances. Or are you alleging that both NDA and Congress-led UPA governments in this period connived with Pak ISI?” said Singh.

He also hit out at the Deputy CM saying that one month after taking over the post, all he has to show is personal attacks. “What happened to your tall promises on Bargari & drugs cases? Punjab is still waiting for your promised action,” asked Singh. He also asked Randhawa to focus on the law and order situation ahead of the festive season.

Replying to Singh’s remarks, Randhawa said, “I am a true nationalist and you better know, Capt Amarinder Singh from which point our differences had erupted. Whereas, you don’t worry about law and order situation as we have not outsourced the Punjab govt to ‘anyone’. Now, police is protecting people, not cheekus and seetafal”.

Randhawa also asked Singh that why is he so perturbed over robe on Aroosa and ISI links. “By the way, sir Capt Amarinder Singh, why are you so perturbed over probe on Aroosa and ISI links? Who sponsored her visa and everything concerning her will be throughly probed. I do hope eveyone concerned will co-operate with police in probe,” he said.

The Twitter war did not end here. Singh again took to Twitter to hit back via his media advisor Raveen Thukral’s handle. “‘Perturbed? Have you ever seen me perturbed on any issue in all these years Sukhjinder Randhawa? In fact, you seem to be perturbed and confused, if your flip flops are any indication. Why don’t you make up your mind on this so-called probe against Aroosa Alam?” said Singh.

He further added, “As for who sponsored Aroosa’s visa, of course I did, for 16 years. And FYI, Sukhjinder Randhawa, requests for such visas are sent by Indian HC to MEA, which gets them cleared by RAW & IB before approving. And that’s what happened in this case every time’….‘What’s more, a detailed inquiry was conducted in 2007, when I was no longer CM, by NSA on orders of then UPA PM before granting visa to Aroosa Alam. You still want to waste Punjab’s resources on this? I’ll help you with whatever you need.”

Randhawa was in Delhi yesterday for a meeting with the party leadership. Reacting to the probe question, Randhawa denied ordering an inquiry and said that he was responding to a general query. Randhawa added that former CM Amarinder should know that it is the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) that conducts inquiries involving foreign nationals.